The Billionaire's Ex-Wife Returns!
Chapter 42: He Wants to Investigate!

Chapter 42: He Wants to Investigate!

His voice was filled with a commanding tone. Landon didn’t like he was coming off like that, but he had no choice. He was in a hurry.

For the past years, this was the only time he felt certain he would find her. That he would finally see her.

The mere thought he was finally able to get close to her after years of separation could trigger a torrent of emotions that threatened to overwhelm him.

He couldn’t wait any longer.

And it was evident with how his entire body was shaking with excitement and joy. His heart was beating inside him like a drum.

This time, he would make everything right.

He would never let Lucy go ever again.

The middle-aged woman stared at him for a long moment. Then she released a deep sigh.

She untied the apron around her waist and said, "Luciano, keep an eye on the store. I’m stepping out for a bit."

The young man, who was called Luciano, looked at his mother with a concerned expression. But contrary to the stormy look in his eyes, he didn’t stop his mother from leaving.

Once they were outside, the middle-aged woman told Landon, "Don’t have any expectation. I’m just leading you to her place."

Landon thought it was enough for him.

He didn’t expect the woman to help him with anything else. What happened between him and Lucy was something he could only fix, after all.

But still, he felt nervous all the same.

What if Lucy wouldn’t forgive him? What if she refused to accept him back in her life?

Landon quickly shook his head to disperse his negative thoughts away.

After a couple of minutes, they reached a corner. However, nothing was in sight. No, that wasn’t right. There was something, maybe a remnant of what might have been a house, but it was all too ruined and there were traces of fire lingering. It couldn’t even be called a house anymore.

"Ma’am, this is...?"

Alaric followed closely behind the middle-aged woman. He stared at the burned house in front of them and was confused as to why she had brought them there.

"This house belonged to a woman who suddenly moved here. She worked at my restaurant for a couple of months. But a fire broke one winter night."

Alaric turned to glance at Landon. He was afraid that Landon would react strongly. Thankfully, he just stood there and stared at the house as well.

But this only made Alaric even more alarmed.

He pressed on when Landon didn’t say a word. "What happened to her? Is she safe? Where is she?"

The middle-aged woman dropped her gaze to the ground, and Alaric held his breath. At the same time, Landon’s eyes moved to land on the woman. His fierce and ruthless eyes turned cold, much colder than ever. He wasn’t as calm as he looked, after all.

"She’s safe. But—"

"But?"

"When the fire broke, she sustained some burns to save herself." The woman finally revealed something so great a storm suddenly brewed inside Landon’s eyes. But she was unaware of it as she continued, "She moved out of the town after the fire. Now, I don’t know where she is or what happened to her. That’s everything I know. I hope that is enough for you to leave my restaurant alone."

No one answered her. It didn’t even seem like they were listening to the latter half of her sentence.

The woman didn’t care, either. She did her part already.

She left as soon as she finished speaking. But instead of heading toward the restaurant, the woman stopped in a corner and hid. She took out her phone and called a number.

It rang a few times before it connected.

"Mrs. Baker."

A female voice came through the line.

"Lucy, you were right. They came here to ask about you." Mrs. Baker looked back anxiously, afraid that the two men had followed her.

When she was sure they didn’t follow her or couldn’t hear her, she continued, "I told them what you told me to tell them. But is this really alright? Won’t they investigate the truth?"

Lucy replied, "You don’t have to worry, Mrs. Baker. You told them the truth, anyway. A fire burned down the house."

The only thing Mrs. Baker didn’t tell Landon was that when the house burned, Lucy was not alone. She and her daughter almost died there.

Lucy raised a hand to her shoulder, reaching toward her back where ghostly pain still stung her like when the fire burned her.

It was a price she paid to save her daughter.

"Thank you, Mrs. Baker. I’m grateful to everyone who listened to my selfish request."

"There’s no need for thanks. We’re all happy to know you’re fine."

The entire town was involved. They knew someone would look for Lucy and under her instructions; they agreed to pretend they didn’t know her so that Landon could go to Mrs. Baker.

Landon would’ve never guessed that he was dancing right in her palms.

Lucy did all of this to buy her time. Landon should have stayed out of Grid City a bit longer now that he had lost the only clue to her whereabouts.

***

When Landon returned to the hotel, he still hadn’t said a word. Neither did Alaric, who was still reeling in from what they had learned.

They both matched in appearance. Their expensive suits were stained with dirt and black ash.

It was Landon’s fault. As soon as the middle-aged woman left, Landon approached the house and kneeled before it. He was filled with anguish as he imagined what Lucy had gone through after he left him.

Even though the fire was not his doing, he blamed himself for it.

Nothing would’ve happened to Lucy had he not made a mistake. Had he made sure that Lucy stayed by his side, she would be safe and sound.

He thought he was the smartest man in the world. But he was nothing but a blind fool. He let himself be filled with anger and a desire for vengeance. He ended up losing something more important.

"I want to know what happened to her."

He finally opened his mouth to speak. Yet his voice sounded forlorn and hoarse.

"Alaric, investigate everything from the start."

He was now even more determined to get to the bottom of this.

And Alaric was happier to oblige to his order.

But as Alaric was about to leave, his phone made some noise, making him halt his steps.

Landon watched Alaric move from the door to his side with the phone thrust in front of his face.

Alaric should know he didn’t want to take any calls. It was also the reason why he turned off his phone after he arrived in that town.

But the grave look flashing across Alaric’s eyes won him over to find out who was calling.

Landon’s eyes narrowed as he saw it was his grandfather.